Rail bond



Dec. 5, 1933. I E DEEMS 1,938,563

RAIL BOND Filed Sept. 11, 1929 zsheets-sheet 1 Dec. 5, 1933. E. M. DEEMS 1,938,563

Filed Sept. 11, 1929- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 5, 1933 RAIL BOND Edward M. Deems, Forest Hills, N. Y., assignor to Railroad Accessories Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application September 11, 1929 Serial No. 391,766

4 Claims.

This invention relates to conductors; more especially to conductors for connecting the adjacent ends of railway rails; particularly, those for use in connection with railway track circuits.

5 It is well understood by those skilled in the railway signalling art, that a track circuit includes an insulated section of the trackway formed by placing insulating joints in each of the. lines of rails, and by connecting a battery across the rails at one end, and a relay across the rails at the other end.

It is also well understood, that the ordinary rail connecting or fish plates connecting the adjacent ends of the ordinary thirty foot sections are not to be relied upon to furnish sufficient conductivity for the electrical energy which flows in the rails from the battery at one end of the section to the relay at the other end thereof. This fact has necessitated a special bonding of each of the adjacent abutting rail ends within the section.

Great difiiculties have been encountered in successfully bonding the adjacent abutting rail ends in track circuit sections because provision common method is to bond, from one rail web to the adjacent rail web, by means of one or a plurality of conductors of a length somewhat greater than the length of the fish plates. This method of bonding exposes the bonding wires to mechanical injury, in that, they may become entangled with dragging parts from the rolling stock, or may actually get onto the top of the rail, and so be severed by the passage thereover of the wheels of rolling stock. In addition, they are very likely to be damaged by trackmen, when working along the track, particularly when working 'in and about the rail joint and more especially when tightening the bolts thereof, or replacing the fish plates with new plates.

A very pronounced d'fiiculty with the old type of bond is, that due to its length and in spite of its size as it may be commercially used, it does not offer a conductivity as great as is desired. The desired conductivity cannot be attained without enlarging the bond to a prohibitive extent.

Attempts have been made to increase the conductivity and decrease the mechanical disad vantages of bonds by applying a bond directly to the rail heads. Such a bond can be very short, as compared with the previously described bond; therefore, for a given diameter has an increased conductivity in that it has less resistance. Such bonds have, in general, been applied tothe head of the rail by electrical or flame welding. Many has to be made for many adverse conditions. .A

competent engineers are adverse to applying any considerable degree of heat to the side of the ball of a rail, especially adjacent the end thereof, and this reluctance, considered by many to be well founded, has militated against. the use of such bonds.

A further difliculty which has been met with in the type of bond applied directly to the rail heads is that itis particularly exposed to contact with dragging parts of rolling stock.

A principal object of the present invention is the production of a bond which will obviate most of the defects of the type of bonds hereinbefore described which are connected from rail web to rail web, and which on the other hand will have the desirable virtues of a rail bond connected from rail head to. rail head, and will be free from most of the undesirable characteristics of the electrical or flame welded bonds.

A further object of the invention is the production of a bond of the type specified, and having the advantages specified, which will further be of such a construction that it may be applied to rails without the necessity for the cumbersome, expensive, unusual apparatus and tools commonly required for aflixing an electrical or flame welded bond.

A further object of the invention is the production of a bond of the type described, which will be of a construction such that it will be of high conductivity, mechanically strong, and of small compass.

A further object of the invention is the production of a bond of the type described which will be of such construction that the likelihood of being caught and damaged by dragging parts of rolling stock will be greatly diminished.

Other objects and advantages will appear, as the description of the particular physical embodiments, selected to illustrate the invention progress, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the particularly physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, and the figures, and the characters of reference thereon, wherein similar characters of reference refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the abutting ends of two rails and the connecting fish plate showing a bond of my invention in place thereon; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the construction as shown by Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a fragment of the bond as shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional elevational view on the plane indicated by the line IV-IV of Fig. 1 viewed in the direction of the arrows at the ends of the line; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the bond as shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a plan view of a fragment of a modified form of bond; Fig. 7 is a plan view of a fragment of another modified form of bond; Fig. 8, is a side elevational view of the device as shown in Fig. '7.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates one rail, and 2 indicates an adjacent or abutting rail, and 3 indicates the usual fish plate held to the rails by bolts, 4 and 5.

For the purposes of my invention, the ball or head of each rail is formed with an orifice, 6, for the reception of, what I will term, the plug portion of my bond. In Fig. 2, the plug portion is designated by '7. It is in the form, generally, of the frustum of a cone, that is, it is not quite cylindrical but has a slight taper, being smaller on the inner end within the orifice than on the outer end. The portion '7 is formed with a small orifice 8 which opens at the end inner face. This orifice is for the reception of a dowel pin 9, best shown in Fig. 5. The dowel pin is in the form of the frustum of a cone, that is, it is not exactly cylindrical but tapers slightly. The smaller end is first inserted in the orifice 8, and the larger end bears against the end wall of the orifice 6 so that when the plug '7 is driven in, the dowel enters the orifice 8 and separates the walls of the plugs 7 so that the plug '7 is firmly held within the orifice 6.

The outer end of the plug 7, that is, the end which is exposed and which lies adjacent and along the outside vertical face of the rail head is called by me, a head. In the form shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the head is integral with and lies transversely to, the plug, and is designated as a whole by 10. This head is formed with two gradually curving adjacent surfaces also joined by a curving surface. The top surface 11, best shown in Fig. 1, starts curving from a line just above the center of the plug, as shown in Fig. 1, and sweeps gradually downwardly to the point 12. The side or end surface, as best shown in Fig. 2, starts curving in a vertical line passing through the center of the plug and sweeps gradually inwardly to the same point 12; so that, if the plug '7 is held with its longitudinal axis horizontal, the head 10 may be described as having a top surface curving gradually downwardly and an adjacent side face curving gradually inwardly to substantially a point, and the two curving surfaces are joined by a curving surface merging one into the other.

The head 10 is provided with means for securing a conductor thereto. This means, in the form shown in Fig. 1, includes the two spaced members 13 and 14 between which the conductor 15 may be positioned, and being provided with an orifice in its end may be secured to the spaced members 13 and 14 as by means of a rivet 16 passing through the members 13 and 14 and the conductor 15. In order to make the union between the conductor 15 and the head 10 more secure electrically and mechanically, the connection therebetween may be soldered or tinned by any of the usual methods as by dipping into molten solder. This dipping will be preferably such that the entire plug and head '7 and 10 will also be thoroughly tinned with a non-corrodible metal.

The conductor 15 is preferably formed of very thin sheets or ribbons stacked one on top of another, that is, laminated, and is preferably formed of a readily electrical conducting material such as copper. The conductor 15 is also formed wavy in that plane which will be vertical and parallel to the sides of the rail heads when the device is in use. By thus making the conductor 15 wavy, that is, with a series of bends therein, the conductor may be compressed or expanded longitudinally without damage thereto by the endwise movements of the rails to which in use it is firmly attached at its ends.

In order to prevent the lamina: composing the conductor 15 from separating, applicant prefers to position small rings or sleeves, as 1'7, closely fitting the conductor 15 preferably at each of the depressions formed by bending or waving the conductor.

As will be seen by Fig. 1, the head 10 at the right end of the conductor 15 is reversely formed as compared with the head 10 at the left hand end of the conductor 15, that is, the head 10 at the right hand end of 15 is so formed that the same kind' of curved surfaces will be presented to dragging rolling stock which approaches from the right, as viewed in Fig. 1, as the head 10 presents to dragging rolling stock which approaches from the left, as viewed in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 6 a modified form of the bond is shown. In this form the portion of the bond which fits into the orifice in the rail head and against the walls thereof is made in the form of the frustumof a cone but it has an orifice 18 therethrough formed by inwardly tapering side walls forming a cavity which fits a tapered plug 19. When the tapered plug 19 is driven inwardly it forces the walls of 18 firmly into contact with the walls of the orifice 6 in the rail head.

In the modified form as shown by Fig. 6, the head portion 20 corresponding to the head portion 10 of Fig. 1 is formed with the curving surfaces just as is the head 10 and the head 20 is formed integrally with the plug 19. The socket plug 18 is extended so as to form the members comparable to 13 and 14 of Fig. 1 but only one of which 13 appears in Fig. 6.

In Figs. '7 and 8 a modified construction of the connection between the conductor 15 and the head, such as 10 or 21, is. shown. In this construction the conductor 15 is not situated between two members, as 13 and 14 in Fig. 1, but it is riveted to one outstanding member 22. This construction may be used with the forms as shown in Fig. 1 as it is an alternative method of construction.

Although I have described and illustrated one preferred physical embodiment of my invention and modifications thereof, and explained the construction and principle of operation; nevertheless, I desire to have it understood that the forms selected-are merely illustrative, but do not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea of means underlying the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. As an article of manufacture, as a rail bond, a body including a tapered plug portion formed with an orifice in its smaller end face and with a head on its larger end, said head extending transversely of the plug and formed with a top face curving gradually downwardly substantially to a point, an end face curving gradually inwardly to the same point and a curved surface joining attaching a conductor.

2. As an article of manufacture, as a rail bond, a body including a tapered plug portion formed with an orifice in its smaller end face and with a head on its larger end, said head extending transversely of the plug and formed with a top face curving gradually downwardly substantially to a point, an end face curving gradually inwardly to the same point and a curvedsurface joining the first two specified surfaces, said head formed with a bifurcated portion, each part being formed with a cavity for the reception of a rivet, and a laminated conductor having its end positioned in the bifurcation and provided with an orifice for the reception of the said rivet whereby the head and the laminated conductor are rigidly, mechanically, and electrically connected together.

3. As an article of manufacture, as a rail bond, a body including a tapered plug portion formed with an orifice in its smaller end face and with a head on its larger end, said head extending transversely of the plug and formed with a top face curving gradually downwardly substantially to a point, an end face curving gradually inwardly to the'same point and a curved surface joining the first two specified surfaces, said head being provided with an orifice, the axis of which is at an angle of degrees to the axis of the tapered plug, a conductor, and a cut-away portion on its head for receiving the end of the conductor, said conductor being provided with an orifice and a rivet passing through the orifice in the head and the orifice in the conductor firmly, mechanically and electrically connecting the two.

4. In a rail bond, in combination: a socket plug formed with a means for attachment to a conductor, said socket plug having a portion tapered for insertion into a cavity in a rail, said portion formed with a tapered cavity; ahead plug formed with a portion for insertion in the tapered cavity of the socket plug and formed with top face curving gradually downwardly substantially to a point, an end face curving gradually inwardly to the same point, and a curved surface joining the first twospecified faces.

EDWARD M. DEEMS. 

